Oh, For the Wings of a Dove!
by x Varda x
Summary: Complete! Rodney has a couple of things he's very attached to stolen from him and replaced. Will he get back what he lost? And more importantly, will he want them returned? Wingfic
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Rodney has a couple of things he's very attached to stolen from him and replaced. Will he get what he lost back? And more importantly, will he want them returned? Wingfic  
**Rating:** T  
**Length**: 10-15k  
**Setting:** Early Season 5

**Oh, For the Wings of a Dove!**

"Another day, another new world in the Pegasus Galaxy," Rodney said heavily. "I wonder what marvels of farming equipment and what pinnacle of mud hut technology they have reached in this place."

He huffed and waggled his scanner-holding hand around. He was half hoping that perhaps if he tilted it in the right direction, he might pick up a power reading showing a hidden spaceship, advanced race, or maybe even a ZPM. Right now though, he would have settled for anything to pique his interest other than the cultivated fields they were walking past along the well tended and surprisingly smooth footpath.

Rodney still found cause to continue grumbling though. "This path is hurting the soles of my feet! What the hell did they make it out of? Hard pressed iron?"

Teyla turned back slightly from where she was leading the group and said, "Perhaps we should have informed them of your visit and they could have laid out feathers?"

Ronon chuckled and John smiled. However, Rodney's mood instantly worsened. "Oh yes. Laugh it up now, but I'm not letting you borrow my pumice stone later when you start complaining about your sore feet and blisters!"

Ronon's face dropped and he deadpanned, "You've the only one complaining, McKay."

John nodded. "Maybe you could visit the infirmary when we get back and get Keller to have a look for you?"

Rodney felt his already eggshell thin layer of calm shattering. "I'll have you know, my visits to the infirmary are because I'm injured! I'd never take advantage of Jennifer and visit the infirmary for no reason!"

Teyla pursed her lips as she kept a lookout for any danger and did not let her guard down, even though the landscape around them was quite tranquil.

"A splinter or a paper cut? They're not injuries," Ronon said smoothly.

"Maybe not to you, Mr 'I could lose my leg and not notice!' But I can't possibly work if there's _any_ damage to my hands. For a start, I bleed all over the computers when I press the keys! And who knows what would happen to some of the devices I handle if they got blood on them?!"

Ronon shrugged, but Rodney could see the dismissal in his eyes as well. Rodney already knew that the former Runner thought he was a weakling, and in comparison to the mighty Ronon Dex of Sateda, most people were. At least, that was the impression he gave out. Rodney tried not to let it get to him as best he could as he said, "Well then, Conan, I'd like to see you save the city from the Wraith using only the power of your mind and access to the mainframe! I'll keep doing that and leave the heroic staggering while at death's door to people who don't have any nerve endings.

Ronon glared at him. "I've got them. I just ignore them and don't whine about it all the time. Unlike some people."

Rodney opened his mouth to give a hot reply which he would probably regret, but Teyla suddenly stopped and held up her fist. She said, "We are not alone."

Despite Ronon and Rodney's seemingly unfriendly chat, Ronon, John and Teyla encircled the scientist and faced outwards so that they could protect him.

Rodney switched his scanner to a lifesigns detector and pointed past John. "There are five lifesigns behind us, coming through one of the fields.

"Animal or human?" John asked.

Rodney sighed in irritation. "Mineral? Vegetable? I don't know! It's a lifesigns detector! This isn't a computer game, Sheppard! It doesn't reveal the names above the readings or what they are. They are not red for bad guys or green for good guys!"

"That is a shame," Teyla said in a superior voice like she was talking to a slightly annoying child.

A man, flanked by four others, all dressed in simple farm clothes emerged from the field. It looked like they had just been working and had heard the team going past.

Sheppard lowered his gun slightly when he saw that they were not immediately aggressive and did not appear to have any weapons. He said, "Hi there! My name's Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Dr Rodney McKay."

The man at the front held his hand against his chest and his companions did likewise. They all bowed slightly and Rodney raised his eyebrows. The apparent leader said, "I am Tarro. I bid you welcome to our world. Follow us to the village if you would like to meet the leader of our people."

John smiled at them. "Okay. Thanks."

Tarro's eyes took in the team and Rodney thought he saw a flicker of something hostile in the man's face, but it quickly vanished and was replaced by an unnervingly insincere smile.

As they walked, Tarro placed a hand in his pocket and then held back while his four companions led the way; which turned out to be where the team had been going anyway.

Rodney could not help his growing unease and the feeling he had that they were now hostages being led at gunpoint, but he knew it was just his healthy sense of paranoia talking to him again and he tried to ignore it.

Tarro came over next to Rodney and walked alongside him. He pointed at the scanner and said, "Dr Rodney McKay. You are not like the others..."

"What do you mean?" Rodney said nervously.

Tarro laughed unkindly at Rodney's obvious fear. "Forgive me! I mean that you are not a soldier as you did not have one of those strange artefacts pointed at us like your friends."

"A gun? No. I'm a scientist." He waved the scanner around, "This can read energy signals and lifesigns… among other things."

Tarro gave him a blank look and Rodney sighed. "Energy? Like shields... plasma weapons, ZedPMs... No? Alright... it keeps Wraith ships airborne and culling."

Tarro shrugged, "This 'en-ar-giya' have you found any yet?"

"Nope. And it's _'energy_.'"

"Oh. Well, what would you do if you found it?"

John laughed, "Don't get him started!"

Rodney tweaked the scanner back to reading energy signals and sighed dreamily. "Depends what it was. Study it first to find out and then try to figure out how it works and if it can be reverse engineered."

Tarro was looking at him vacantly again and it annoyed Rodney no end. "Try to make another one," he supplied.

Tarro pointed at the scanner Rodney was clutching tightly in case the native try to steal it from him, and asked, "So, your power is in your hands for study and reversing?"

There was a small snort of amusement behind him from either Ronon or John... or _both_ of them, and Rodney rolled his eyes skyward. "You could say that."

Tarro kept a watchful eye on Rodney for the rest of the walk and it made Rodney very uncomfortable. It was almost like he was his own personal escort and if he had tried to get away, he had a suspicion that he would be grabbed and held back.

When they finally reached the settlement, Tarro and his companions took them to the largest of the mud huts and Rodney huffed, "I knew it! They only just left caves. We won't find anything here'"

Tarro narrowed his eyes, but did not speak.

He led the way into the hut and his companions, or guard dogs, as Rodney saw them, remained outside. Teyla and Ronon went first, followed by Rodney and John.

Rodney knew there was something terribly wrong the moment he stepped through into the darkened inner room beyond. He heard John walk in behind him and there was a quiet swish and the room was suddenly plunged into pitch darkness. There was a faint hiss and dizziness engulfed Rodney and he sunk down to the floor and landed on his knees. His eyes fluttered shut as he keeled over sideways and then his awareness joined his sight as it faded out to black as well.

* * *

"Ouch!" Rodney grunted as he woke up. He winced and mumbled sadly, "Oh, ow ow ow!"

An urgent male voice nearby said, "He can still feel it! Quickly, increase the painkillers. We have no need to cause him pain when we have the means to alleviate it. We are not barbarians."

"But, Tarro, it is already very high."

"That is unimportant. Heighten the dosage."

Rodney gradually came back to full awareness. He was even able to open his eyes as the pain faded away to a dull throb and ache travelling through both of his arms and shoulders and part way into his chest and back.

He was lying down on his back and looking up at a featureless white ceiling. The room was incredibly bright and clean. His sluggish mind connected the dots very slowly, as whatever drug he had been given numbed his nerves as well as his thoughts. Clean. Sterile. Pain. Drugs... Hospital? But not any Earth hospital.

He tried to move his legs first and then his arms. He hissed. Big mistake, big mistake!

What was Tarro doing there? And why couldn't he move?

"Why am I tied down?" Rodney blurted. He could feel tight bands around his ankles, thighs, shoulders, chest and abdomen. There was also a strap across his forehead so that he could not turn his head to see what was going on. These guys were obviously very thorough. He was slightly flattered that they would think he was that strong and threatening. Flattered and terrified.

His chest was cold and the breeze across him ruffled the fine hairs against his skin, tickling him slightly and informing him that they had taken his shirt while they did whatever it was that they were doing to him.

"What's going on? Where's the rest of my team? Why do I need painkillers and why am I being held like this?"

Tarro's voice replied, "That is a lot of questions, Dr McKay. You are a man of learning, as I am too. Perhaps you will be grateful for what you are about to become and how you have helped us."

"What are you talking about?" Rodney asked in a high panicked voice.

"You will see in time."

The minion said, "The drug has worked. He is nearly ready for stage two. Shall I increase the painkiller dosage again?"

"Not yet. Let us see what happens first."

Rodney's heart pounded in fright and he wriggled against the restraints, but he could not even move, let alone free himself. "What's going on?"

There were multiple clunk and hissing sounds all around him and he screamed as pain shot through him from multiple points. He tried to arch upwards away from the bed and roll away from the source of the pain, but he was held back by the firm restraints tying him down. It felt like he had just been stabbed by many knives all at once. They had jabbed into several places on his upper body; the sides of his chest, his abdomen, upper and lower arms, and hands.

The white ceiling above dimmed to grey as he sobbed and whimpered noisily. He could hear the two men talking, but he couldn't make out any words above the sounds he was making.

The pain diminished to a sharpness he could just about bear and his sight ramped back up to full again. He was able to force laboured words from his mouth, "What are you doing to me?"

Tarro came over and entered Rodney's very limited line of sight. Rodney gasped and frowned, "Hallucinations! What kind of drugs have you given me?"

Tarro shook his green scaly head and narrowed his lizard eyes, "Painkillers mainly. The other drug we gave you helps with the bleeding and replacement process."

"Bleeding? Replacement?"

Tarro blinked and grinned. Rodney stared at him as he showed row upon row of tiny pointy teeth. It was unnerving, seeing a lizard talking and with intelligence behind its catlike pupils and yellow eyes.

A dark and slimy forked tongue shot out of Tarro's mouth and ran along the outer edge of lipless mouth and teeth before he spoke, "You have something we need, so we are taking them from you."

Rodney said angrily, "_I_ need everything I have. Thanks."

"We need them more. Anyway, you will not be left incomplete. We have found suitable replacements for what we take. Who knows; you may be thankful once the procedure is complete."

Excruciating pain was now running all along both of Rodney's arms, it was like his outstretched limbs were being consumed by fire and there was no end or relief from the agony as it constantly assailed him. Soon, he was no longer able to think or speak and had no choice other than to surrender his rational thought processes while his body screamed at him for it to be over.

"Tarro! The blood in tube three is being drawn too quickly!"

The walking and talking lizard, Tarro, hissed and turned away. "That is one of the chest tubes, we cannot cycle his blood through the machine if it is not placed back inside his body at the same rate or we will fail and kill him."

Rodney's hearing was fading and he felt weak and tired. They were sucking out his blood and pumping it through a machine? To what end?

Alarms suddenly sounded nearby, but he was too sleepy to let them bother him. Even the pain was lessening as he floated away. There was a shout of, "Hurry! We are losing him!"

Rodney hummed nonchalantly and no matter how strong he was, he could no longer fight the wings of sleep smothering him as the life was literally sucked from his body.

* * *

TBC

_A/N - Um, ow?_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

Rodney woke up and found that he was lying on the ground where he had been dumped by the gate. Tight bandages were wrapped around his torso and he winced as he breathed and felt the pain from the knife wounds, or tubes, or whatever it was that the psychotic people and lizard man had used to torture him.

He did not know whether they had bothered to give him back his shirt, but his entire body was wrapped up in something warm and soft. He opened his eyes and stared up at the clouds above and watched them drifting lazily across the dark blue heavens. He waited for a few minutes to get used to the sensation of his wounds until he could bear them and try moving. He frowned in confusion once he had overcome the pain level, because he felt... different. He was lying on the hard ground and he thought that his back should have been killing him or his hip should hurt far more as it was supporting most of his weight where he lay quite awkwardly, but he wasn't stiff at all from not sleeping on a proper bed.

He reached up and tried to rub his face, but ended up hitting himself with what felt like a feather duster. "What the hell?" He asked the sky.

He tried again, with the same result. "What did those drug induced hallucinations do to me? Tie dusters to my arms? Unless... but that's impossible!" He thought for a moment and then mused, "But if he can turn himself into a lizard..."

Rodney lifted up his right arm more slowly this time. His eyes widened as his arm kept going and going and getting longer as he pointed it upwards away from the ground. It was covered in gleaming white feathers and his eyes widened in shock. It was unlike any costume or duster he had ever seen and the feathers seemed to be sewn right into his skin and were far too uniform to be anything other than, "Wing?!"

Rodney lifted his left arm to compare, and lo and behold; "A _pair_ of wings!"

He frowned and tried to feel his hands, but he no longer had any fingers, only the top third of the wings responded and bent down in a powerful swoop which sent a blast of air at the ground and he had to close his eyes as a small plume of gritty dust particles were blasted into his face.

His eyebrows rose and he muttered, "Well. This is very… odd."

He forgot for a moment and automatically tried to tap his radio to call his team to make sure they were alright. He whacked the side of his head and nearly gouged his eye out before he caught himself and stopped. He rolled over onto his knees and looked down at himself to find that they had given him a shirt, but it was a wraparound number. They would never have been able to get the wings through the sleeves of his normal shirt without damaging them and hurting him.

He tucked his new arms into his sides and they fitted comfortably and safely against him as he stood up far faster and more easily than he ever had done before. But without any hands he couldn't contact anyone for help and neither could he dial the DHD. Unless...

He walked and it felt like he was floating on air and his feet made no noise in the gravel. He hopped soundlessly over to the DHD and peered down at it. He narrowed his eyes and grimaced. He unfurled his right wing, but he did it too quickly as he had still not got used to the size and how light the massive feathered part of him was. He smacked it against the DHD and cried out in shock as the huge thing, which he refused to acknowledge was a part of himself bruised against the device and he felt the pain as though it really was himself he had hurt. He drew it back into himself and held it against his chest protectively only proving that it indeed had nerves which were connected to him and that he should try to take better care of himself no matter how unwanted the change was.

He gritted his teeth and tried the left one. He very slowly reached forwards and swiped at the first button for Atlantis' address. But he hit several buttons at once and it hurt to use the wing in such a way. He ended up wrapping that one around his body too, almost like he was folding his arms against himself, but he had to puff feathers out of his face as they tickled his chin.

He stared down at the DHD and then looked away. How could he dial the thing without hands or anything resembling normal arms or even elbows? He laughed bitterly when he considered using his feet, but the buttons were too close together and he could not get his shoes off to use his toes. That was if they were still human feet he had. He carefully lifted the wings away from himself and peered down. His feet were indeed still within shoes and appeared and felt normal. He would not put it past Tarro and his mates to have given him fins or claws, but that would be something to investigate for later.

He huffed and held up his arms in surrender as he berated the DHD, "This is hopeless! How am I supposed to go home if I can't dial?"

He moved his arms swiftly downwards, intending to let them drop against his sides in defeat, but instead he was suddenly thrown twenty feet in the air and he did the only thing he could; he screamed in terror.

The ground came rushing back up to meet him and he was silenced as his stomach rose and he lost his breath in the falling sensation. He landed unharmed on the ground. He kept his eyes tightly closed and hugged himself as he had expected to break both his legs and die. He frowned and opened his eyes. He kept his wings close and did an experimental jump.

He leapt about five feet off the ground and landed safe and sound. Maybe gravity was lower here? He glanced around and it looked like he had been moved to a different planet as the surroundings were different to what he remembered. He was still in the middle of some fields, but they seemed to be wild grass and flowers and not farmland like the other place.

He sighed and shook his head. He folded his wings behind his back again and stared at the enemy, in the form of the DHD. He wished they had given him a beak too for the briefest moment and then he sighed before he used his chin to hit the sequence for Atlantis. He used his nose for the engage button and muttered, "Ow ow ow!" and ended up whacking himself in the face with white feathers as he reached up to rub his bruised chin and nose.

He inhaled a sharp breath and mumbled a pitiful, "Oh!"

He brushed the soft feathers over the injuries and smiled at how smooth and comforting his new wings were as they lightly touched his bare skin. He shivered and closed his eyes.

Hopefully someone from Atlantis would come to investigate the mysterious activation. He was missing after all and his team could still be here. Maybe Tarro had changed Sheppard into a small frog. That would be a good one. Ronon would make an excellent cat and Teyla... a brightly coloured snake. Sure they look pretty, but nasty bites would follow when they were angered.

Rodney smiled again as the gate shut down and then he waited. He hoped he would not have to dial again as his face hurt despite the warmth of the brilliantly white feathers. He thought that if he was about to leave, he may as well make the most of the low gravity and his current predicament and have a bit of fun... in the form a very scientific experiment, of course.

He unfurled his wings skywards and looked up at the clouds. "I wonder..." He flapped them down and was lifted off the ground with ease.

He did not scream this time, but he could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest and the bound stab wounds pulled and hurt a great deal as he drew his arms up and back down and gained more altitude. The sensation was thrilling rather than terrifying and he found that he was enjoying himself and the feeling of his body swiftly cutting through the air.

There was a quiet 'kawhoosh' sound far away and he looked down to see that the gate was a tiny dot on the ground below. He could see for miles all around. Fields and trees and hills in the distance and he smiled and whooped in joy as he got the hang of it a little more and glided a short distance as he made his way more steadily back down to earth than the stomach losing plummet from earlier.

The grass swayed in the wind he created as he beat his wings down to slow his descent and landed with a short run. A MALP had come through the gate and he ran over to it and hastily tucked and hid his wings behind him. He peered at the camera and said, "I need help! The rest of my team are missing and you'll have to send a team through to find them and dial the gate as I can't, uh, _face_ dialling it again."

No sooner than he finished than several people emerged from the wormhole. His mouth dropped open in surprise when Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon came through along with a squad of marines.

Rodney frowned and said, "I thought... didn't they take you too?"

John shook his head, "No. You've been missing for over a day."

Teyla furrowed her brow, "We awoke in the hut, but we could not find you or any evidence of settlers on the planet."

Ronon finished, "They took you through the gate and none of the previous addresses we've already checked out led anywhere."

Teyla indicated the people who had come through, "We were about to check the tenth address when the gate activated of its own accord."

"Not a coincidence," Ronon said.

John walked around and frowned in curiosity as he looked at Rodney's arms as he unsuccessfully tried to hide his enormous wings.

He circled around and whistled, "What happened?"

Rodney closed his eyes and grimaced. There was a sharp pain in his forearm/forewing and he grunted. "Ow! Hey, that's attached to something!"

Rodney spun around and John still had his finger sticking out and a guilty expression where he had just poked Rodney's feathered appendage experimentally.

"Yes. They _are_ real and I can feel everything, so keep your hands to yourself or I'll flap them in your face!"

John grinned and said, "Cool."

Rodney twitched his shoulders in annoyance, but restrained himself from a show and tell freak show. "No. Not cool. I have no hands. I can't do anything!" He widened his eyes as a nasty thought crossed his mind. "How am I going to eat?! What happens when I need to use the bathroom?!"

John's grin faltered. "You'll find out who your friends are."

Rodney sighed and said, "My chest hurts, can we go home now? Then we can find Tarro and his gene stealing buddies and get my arms back."

John nodded, "We'll do our best. But let's make sure you're safe first."

Rodney nodded and when the wormhole was successfully shut down and reactivated from this end he stepped through. He hoped that Jennifer would be able to fix him up, but he knew he was going to have to make a difficult decision if a cure ever _could_ be found for his unusual affliction.

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3_**

Once it was confirmed that whatever had been done to Rodney was not contagious, he was taken to the infirmary for a proper scan.

"I'm not ill!" he protested as some of Jennifer's team tried to coax him onto a gurney. He ended up walking and trying to hold his head up high as people gawped at him like he was the central attraction of a circus act.

He heard some of the marines laughing as he went past and he cried, "I'm not a prized turkey!" Their grins broadened and Rodney spread his wings and hugged them around his body to shield himself from their unfriendly taunts in the white of the newfound softness.

He felt a hand on his back, guiding him forwards and offering support. He was about to shake it off, until he realised it was Jennifer. Her lips were pursed and she was frowning in concern… or was it anger?

He saw members of the science team (_his_ science team!) as they muttered to one another. But they soon stopped talking and looked away when he came within hearing distance, but he remembered everyone who had done it. They would be on waste disposal duty for the next month if he got better.

He did not expect his team to be back for at least a few more hours. They were currently offworld scouring the planet where he had been found, while another team searched the original planet for clues that might have previously been missed as to where the arm-stealers had gone and what they had used to do the deed.

As soon as he reached the infirmary he obediently lay under the scanner and had to tuck his magnificent wings in by his sides uncomfortably as the lights ran up and down his body. Jennifer hovered nearby, with an expression half torn between horror and sadness. Her face fell even further as the results were gradually revealed on the screen.

"What's wrong?" Rodney asked with a concerned ruffle of his feathers which he could not suppress.

Jennifer looked down at him and said, "You've undergone some major physiological changes…"

"And what gave you that idea?" Rodney snarked back with a scowl.

"_Including _many internal changes along with the obvious. Your bones are hollow and lots of things inside you are different. Did you wonder why you felt so light?"

Rodney frowned, "So, they tried to turn me into a bird? But why did they stop at wings and…" he grimaced as his focus changed from Jennifer's diagnosis, to his body and the new sensations within, "internal alterations."

"I don't know and I'm not sure if I can fix this. None of the technology we have comes close to the level of genetic manipulation you've just undergone. They've removed and replaced your DNA, so that the coding for your arms has been changed to wings and they've also overwritten other sections to affect the internal changes."

"There must be something you can do?" Rodney moved to get up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, but his muscles were too powerful for how light he now was and he overcompensated by trying to use what were once arms to steady himself. The end result was that he ended up on the floor with a whole host of new bruises and several trays of equipment were sent flying and crashing down around him. Feathers floated in the air where he had lost them in his struggle and he watched them in a daze as they landed around and upon him.

He winced and covered himself and tried to hide his embarrassment with the comforting wings, but the infirmary staff did not hesitate to come over and help him upright and they did not seem to be judging him either. He tightly tucked his throbbing and sore limbs into the sides and sighed sadly.

Jennifer furrowed her brow and transferred the data onto a tablet. As she came over, she said, "The scanner detected some puncture wounds to your chest and abdomen, so I'll need to do an old fashioned examination too. They seem to be alright, but it never hurts to be sure."

"Hurts?" Rodney snorted. "Do you have an eyrie where I can at least stretch my arms out? They're a bit stiff from having to keep them out of everyone's way."

"The isolation lab should do fine. I've already arranged for it to be cleared of anything breakable."

Rodney sighed and hung his head down as he led the way with Jennifer on his heels.

* * *

Rodney trembled as Jennifer ran her fingers along his fragile and sensitive wings. She frowned in concentration as her hands stroked the massive feathers – they were longer and far bigger than any bird from Earth had ever had.

"Hmm…"

"What?" Rodney asked from where he was now sitting on the solitary bed in the isolation lab, holding his wings out for her examination. Everyone had allowed him some privacy and no one was watching from the gallery, even though he had not asked for it, and he was grateful.

Jennifer asked, "Does it hurt?"

"The wings don't, but my chest and sides do. They stabbed me as part of the changing procedure." He narrowed his eyes as he remembered more, "It hurt."

Jennifer came round and stood in front of him and raised her eyebrows as she looked at his chest. "So, let's find out exactly how far these feathers go..."

Rodney shot her a scathing look as she unwrapped the cloth around him. He still looked down at himself in equal curiosity though. The bandages obscured most of his upper body, but the sections he could see looked normal. Jennifer asked, "Can you lie back?"

Rodney very slowly and carefully swung his legs round this time and kept his arms out as he shifted himself on the bed. There was a bruising jolt in his right arm and Jennifer squeaked, "_Careful_, Rodney!"

He mumbled, "Sorry... sorry..." where he had just knocked her with the offending wing.

He found that he was able to lie back, but he did not have anywhere to put his wings, so he let them dangle down beside him to trail on the floor. Jennifer stepped carefully up to him and gently palpated his ribs first and then his abdomen. He winced when her hands found the tender areas where the tubes had been.

She unwrapped the bandages and her eyebrows shot up.

"What is it?" Rodney asked in panic and looked down at himself. The main feathers stopped at his shoulders, and some soft down spread a little way across his chest before it turned into fine hair. Jennifer placed her hands against the white where it joined with his skin in an unusual union. She ran her fingers through it and gave it a lightly tug.

"Yowch! You're as bad as Sheppard! What are you doing?"

Rodney felt like an electric current had just shot through him from the touch and stroking. He could feel it as though it was his skin she was caressing and he knew he should not have such thoughts just from a medical examination.

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. "Just checking to see how attached these feathers are."

"Very, thanks. Please don't pull them, it does actually hurt."

"Sorry." She let go and looked down at his chest and sides.

There were dark red scabbed wounds and a small amount of purple bruising where each area of the pain was, but they had been sutured closed and seemed clean. She seemed shocked and surprised.

"What is it?" Rodney asked in panic.

"Nothing. This is good work, couldn't have done it better myself. I'll get some clean bandages and disinfectant, but whoever did this to you clearly did it without the intention to cause permanent pain or harm."

"What about these then?!" Rodney asked angrily as he lifted his wings up and nearly brained Jennifer again. Her hair flew away from her face in the gust of wind he created.

"You said that it doesn't hurt?"

Rodney sighed and looked away, "Well, it's the whole principal of it. What am I supposed to do with these useless things?"

Jennifer shrugged, "Fly around?"

"What like a sparrow? Wow, _that's_ intelligent..."

"Don't let the Colonel hear you say that."

Rodney smiled. "I suppose I could at least have a little bit of fun, just as long as you can fix me up."

"I don't know about that yet. I still have to figure out exactly how they did this to you."

Rodney pushed himself upright and covered himself with his wings where he was naked from the waist up. He hung his head down, closed his eyes and shivered. He released a deep, juddering sigh and grumbled, "Now's probably not the best time to say that I need the bathroom. And I'm hungry."

He looked up at Jennifer, half expecting her to be laughing at him like the others had, but her face was stony and serious. She nodded and radioed for a nurse to come and help him while she was getting the supplies she needed to clean his wounds.

* * *

A few hours later, Rodney stood at the top of the central tower and inhaled a deep breath as he revelled in the air currents flowing around him, taunting him, toying with him to jump so that they could carry him away. He closed his eyes and smiled as a new type of adrenaline coursed through his veins and he felt more alive than he had done for years.

The sound of buzzing Puddle Jumper engines broke the tranquillity as one of the ships flew from the entrance to the hangar behind him. He had his radio on and the channel was open. He peered over the edge at the outrageously long drop and then quickly stepped backwards. He flattened himself against the wall and made sure his wings were well in, so that they did not accidentally catch any of the updraft and pluck him from the ledge when he did not want to go.

He blinked through the goggles he was wearing to protect his still fully human eyes from the wind and shook his head to try and get the helmet he had insisted on hearing straightened out. It was just one of the marine's tinpot helmets he had indicated to Sheppard that he wanted and he doubted it would protect his precious head from the impact at the end of the _ten mile_ drop in front of him. It didn't really make him feel any better about the whole thing either.

He stuttered, "I-I-I'm not so sure about this!"

Sheppard hovered the Jumper in front of him and Rodney could see him through the windshield as he cocked his head. _"Come on. It'll be fun. You might as well find out what all those white feathers can do for you before Zelenka finishes up with that data we found and you're back to your charming self again."_

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Rodney snapped.

Sheppard drawled,_ "Really?"_

Rodney's indignation fuelled him and although he knew Sheppard was only goading him on, he felt his nerves lessening as anger flooded his body.

He pressed his lips together in a thin line and glared straight ahead as he lifted his arms up and pushed them down through the air.

He felt his insides shifting around unpleasantly in the G-Forces of flight as he dropped and rose with each beat and flap of his arms. Keeping up the motion was exhausting. It was like the air suddenly had the consistency of syrup as it pounded against what he had previously thought were fairly flimsy looking feathers.

But as he circled the tower, he started to enjoy himself, and the knowledge that he could soar and move in such a way under his own volition made him whoop. His wings felt strong and powerful and permanent. His heart swelled in pride and excitement where it fluttered rapidly inside his ribcage like the freed bird within finally realised outside too. He could have been anyone or anything. If this was what birds felt like every day, than maybe he had been born into the wrong species.

Sheppard's voice suddenly broke through to him as he flew behind the Jumper and out over the open ocean. _"You okay? I'm not going too fast am I?"_

"No," he panted. "It's hard work... need lots... of air."

He made the mistake of looking around then, and more specifically, he looked _down_.

"Oh!" he cried. "Th-th-that's a… long way!"

He glanced at Atlantis behind him as he glided along the air currents wafting up from the sea and realised that he was actually higher than the central tower now.

He started panicking then, as his innately programmed and very human fear of falling started to grip him, as it very helpfully informed him that only pain and death awaited any man who fell such a long way. Tarro and his mates may have given him wings, but his mind was intact and it could not process that he was so high up and that such a thing was not dangerous due to the wings.

Sheppard was flying nearby as Rodney hyperventilated and dark spots tinged his sight. He was suddenly falling then and in desperation he tried to steer himself towards the Jumper as John followed him down. He thought he could hear shouting in his ear from the radio.

He didn't know how it happened, but one moment he was falling and flapping half-heartedly as the inviting waves loomed up towards him, and then he bounced painfully off a very solid and unyielding object. He was then doused in icy water and his breath was cut off entirely as his body went numb.

The next thing he knew, he was lying on the hard floor in the back of a Jumper with an oxygen mask over his face and blankets covering his drenched body as a dull ache went through his arm, or was it still a wing? He closed his eyes tightly and furrowed his brow as he shivered and the lights above faded out.

* * *

_TBC_

_A/N - I made sure the next chapter was practically done before I posted this one... just in case I have another RL disaster or ten..._


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

Rodney returned to awareness very slowly. As he came to, he heard hushed voices around him. It was almost like they did not want him to know what they said, but he listened anyway as he had nothing better to do in the darkness.

"It's completely broken?" That sounded like Sheppard.

"Yes, it's the equivalent of several of his fingers where they're now longer and fused together." That was definitely Jennifer. "We set it and strapped it up as best we could, but we're not vets, much less experts in human/animal hybrid care."

"Huh, well you did a good job. Radek's still working on that data, so hopefully it won't be too long before you have a proper human to work on again."

Rodney frowned and opened his eyes groggily.

"Welcome back, McKay," Sheppard said sombrely.

"Oh no! Am I still…?" Rodney looked down at himself and saw that the tip of one of his wings was bound and splinted and resting out on another bed which had been pushed so that it touched his. "How did _that_ happen?"

Sheppard looked at him sadly, "I'm really sorry, Rodney! You fell and I tried to avoid you, but you kept on coming until you hit the Jumper."

Jennifer added, "Then you got a bit drenched and the Colonel had to drag you out of the sea. You had a broken wing and were near hypothermic from the temperature of the water when he pulled you out."

Sheppard added, "You're clearly not a duck or seagull then."

Rodney grunted in annoyance and then bowed his head as he mumbled, "No more flying then?"

"Not for a while, I'm afraid," Jennifer said in a small voice.

Rodney closed his eyes and he heard someone settle beside him in a chair. He looked across and saw that it was John who was wearing an expression torn between guilt and relief.

Rodney smiled, "Didn't your mother ever tell you that if you pull a face like that too often, you'd get stuck like it?"

John's guilt vanished and he grinned back, "Now you mention it…"

Rodney sighed. "So, who does a half-man, half-magpie have to peck to get something to eat around here?"

John nodded and disappeared for a few minutes. He returned with a couple of trays and placed one on Rodney's lap and tucked into his own sandwich. So it was the middle of the day… but how was Rodney supposed to eat anything? He stared at the tray and narrowed his eyes as he dared the chicken sandwich to grow legs and walk into his mouth. After all – he had been genetically altered – so why couldn't a sandwich have the same treatment?

He slowly lifted his uninjured wing and spread out the feathers attached to the tip. He frowned when he looked at them. They had apparently been cleaned of the seawater, but they no longer had the same luscious sheen as they had had earlier. As he took in the rest of the wing, he noted that the once dazzling white was now turning brown where the feathers were split and dirty. Then he realised that without a beak he could not properly preen himself as birds had to do to keep their wings airworthy. He sighed and prodded the sandwich with one of the feathers. But it just bent back the grubby attachment and stung the nerves that had once been the tip of his finger.

He leant forwards and tried grabbing his lunch in his teeth, but he didn't have the flexibility to do such a thing and it made him shift his broken wing. He winced and lay back, breathing hard through the pain.

Sheppard stopped in his own munching and raised his eyebrows, "Stop pecking at your food, McKay."

"Oh, hilarious," Rodney deadpanned. "I think I finally understand why pigeons drop missiles on hapless pedestrians now. Bathroom arrangements are very unpleasant. It's bad enough when you're ill and even worse when you're not. I've never been so embarrassed in my life..."

Sheppard walked away and returned with a straw… and a nurse. He nodded at Rodney, who silently pleaded with him not to watch his humiliation and John obliged as he picked up his tray and left with a, "I've got to go and check on Zelenka. I'll see you later."

Rodney sunk down and sighed in relief, but it was still terrible for him to have to be fed like a baby when he was perfectly lucid about the whole thing. His pride was slowly being chipped away with every below the belt knock it took.

* * *

Jennifer decided to release Rodney later that day after her team had awkwardly strapped the wing across his chest. John came by to pick him up and Jennifer prescribed some painkillers and told Rodney to come back if he needed _anything_ at all to help with his condition or injuries.

She moved to give the box of pills to Rodney, but changed the course of her hand at the last moment and gave them to John instead.

As John was leading Rodney towards the mess hall for dinner, Rodney with his wing tucked in behind him and his face aflame with the pending humiliation, Zelenka suddenly called then that he had some news.

Rodney and John entered the lab a few minutes later and made their way over to Zelenka in the middle of the maelstrom. The entire lab was bustling with activity as many scientists clicked and clacked on computers, and coffee mugs with varying degrees of fullness littered every desk. There were ongoing discussions, some heated, and others carried out under the breath of the gathered people while they worked.

As soon as Rodney was within shouting distance of Radek, he snapped, "What is it?"

Zelenka jumped slightly and then glanced across at Rodney and John. He sighed and pushed up his glasses as he waved a hand at the computer in front of him. He said, "While you were frolicking…"

Rodney frowned, "I do _not_ 'frolic!' Besides, my flight was a serious experiment! I can't type, so I may be the most intelligent one here, but there's nothing I can do."

Zelenka gave McKay a small smile before he let loose a long suffering sigh and muttered, "Shame they could not isolate the gene for your arrogance and replace it with fluffy bunnies. They gave you wings but you did not get bird brain to go with them."

"What was I supposed to do? Peck the keyboard with my nose?"

"No. But what about voice recognition? I thought you were supposed to be clever."

Rodney all but growled in anger, "It's alright for you, at least you've got human hands and arms! I can't dress, wash or eat properly... I can't even go to the bathroom without help! It's bad enough when I'm ill, but with all my mental faculties intact, it's just downright humiliating and far too much! Maybe if they were on my back in addition to my arms, or if I could just have them when I wanted, it would be okay. Now that I can't even use the wings to fly, they're worse than useless! Right now, I just want _my_ arms and hands and not giant pigeon feathers!"

Sheppard grinned at the feathers which were sticking out all over the place in Rodney's anger and said, "You look more like a half-plucked chicken right now, McKay."

Rodney face had gone bright red in his anger and tapped his foot impatiently as he asked, "So… so… so, what've you got?"

"While some of the team were searching the database for a treatment, I and several others have been working on the found data. We have broken the code and there are many stargate addresses."

Rodney sighed and let his working wing drop down to trail on the floor.

Radek furrowed his brow, "But there is one address that may be where you were taken. It matches one of the addresses retrieved from the DHD on both the world where you were gassed and the one where we found you."

Rodney was still steaming, so John said, "Doubtful that's a coincidence."

"Precisely."

* * *

The second they entered the lab on the planet they were investigating, it became apparent that something was wrong. There was a whole squad of marines outside this time, in case things got nasty, but there were instantly guns aiming towards the team and in reverse, towards the furry, clawed and scaly fingered men.

Rodney recognised Tarro and unfurled his unhurt wing in anger, "What did you _do _to me?!"

Tarro snarled and revealed his nasty teeth, but now that Rodney was no longer at his mercy restrained to a bed while they experimented on him, he just looked like a totally ridiculous overgrown lizard.

Tarro said hotly, "I know that you have come to steal the machine! Well, you cannot have it!"

John tilted his head, almost in nonchalance, but he was still aiming his P90 at the creature. He drawled, "We don't want the machine, just change him back and we'll leave."

"The machine… imagine what we could do with it!" Rodney said and let his wing drop down with a whoosh.

"McKay!"

"Well, it could be useful for... Ow!" Rodney spun around and glared at Ronon, who had just plucked a white feather from him with his free hand and was now rolling it between his fingers.

Tarro was eying them all suspiciously, but then, with a face like his, any expression seemed suspicious. He sighed in a hiss and said, "The arms we took are useless, you can have them back. Your brain is actually where the power lies, but that is built in and we cannot take it yet. Although we are trying to work out if we ever could."

"Change him back. But we're staying while you do it," John said.

The guns very slowly lowered down, with Ronon the last one to stop aiming at the strange animal-people. It took him several seconds to holster it, but Rodney knew that that was as good as having it ready to fire anyway.

Tarro suddenly lunged at Rodney, and in panic he flapped his free wing. The gale force gust he created in the small space was strong enough to knock several of the minions down, including one who looked like a black cat on hind legs. But Tarro stayed low to the ground and kept on coming. Rodney's flapping prevented anyone from getting a shot and spun him around in a circle and jarred his broken wing. He cried out and then felt blinding pain in his free wing as Tarro clamped his jaws around the front of his wing and tore away a mouthful of feathers and flesh.

Rodney struggled and caught a blow against Tarro, who let go with a snarl.

The marines entered the room at the sound of the ruckus and secured it by herding the animal-people into a corner. Jennifer had also come in with them and went over to Rodney as he eyed his matted and bloody wing while he shuddered in pain. She wrapped a bandage around the bite, but it was not too deep and the bleeding had already slowed.

John glared at Tarro, whose teeth were stained red with Rodney's blood and had small white feathers in his mouth and clinging to his jaw. He stared at the others and asked, "If one of you helps us, this will go a lot faster and we'll be out of here."

The cat-man got up shakily and said, "I am Forlix and I will help you."

Rodney looked up from where he had been watching Jennifer wind the bandage around him with great difficulty. "Hey, you were there!"

The man twitched his nose and his ears turned towards Rodney. "It is true, I helped to change you. Follow me."

It was unnerving; talking to a man who had a mouth full of fangs and whiskers sprouting from his face. His companions glared at him in his betrayal, but he held his head up high as he walked to a door on the other side of the room.

John indicated for the marines to keep an eye on the others while the rest of Rodney's team and Jennifer followed.

* * *

Rodney once again found himself in a bright white room, flat on his back and tightly bound. His wings had been completely unwrapped and were spread out by his sides. The broken bones and bite ached and stung until his eyes watered and the tears ran across his temples. Only this time, John, Teyla, Ronon and Jennifer were with him. Ronon had his hand on Rodney's chest, while Teyla and John looked on. He was still scared in anticipation of the pain to follow.

Jennifer was speaking with Forlix over by the main control console. She said, "This is amazing!"

Forlix replied, "Yes, it is. It was a machine made by the Ancestors, but we found it on a crashed Wraith Cruiser a few years ago on our homeworld. We were banished along with it when we were able to find out what it and the other technology we found did."

Jennifer beamed, "So, it can overwrite genetic codes?"

"Yes. But it only stores the patterns for transferring onto a single person. It cannot duplicate or copy them. Dr McKay's arms are back in here after Tarro found out they were useless."

Rodney widened his eyes in fear of the violation, "So, he used my arms?"

Forlix shook his furry head and tapped a few buttons with his claws. "We consider it as _borrowing_ the code, and anyway, he gave it back."

"But what about these wings? You didn't graft human arms onto a pigeon?"

Forlix meowed in laughter, "No! We have used the machine to absorb many animals in the past. The only thing it cannot take is the mind." He hit another, larger key with the pad of his paw and said, "Stand back please."

Teyla laid a hand on Rodney's forehead in reassurance before they retreated.

"I need to administer painkillers and a sedative. The first time we used the device, we did not know how agonising it was until it was too late."

Jennifer took the rucksack off her back and said, "Apparently they weren't so effective last time. I've got something better."

Rodney flinched as footsteps approached him and then Jennifer was above him. She smiled as she waved the needle in her hand in front of his face and said, "You'll feel a sharp scratch. Try to relax and we'll see you again soon."

Rodney was about to protest about her sticking needles into him in unspecified places, but she did it before he could get a word out and a few seconds later her face, along with all other memories, faded away.

* * *

Rodney woke up a while later. He was no longer in any pain from the fracture or sharp lizard teeth wounds. He was lying down, but no longer strapped there immobile and helpless. He opened his eyes and frowned.

"Hey, you're awake."

"Ronon…?"

"Yes. It worked."

Ronon moved over and Rodney closed his eyes as he was helped to sit up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He looked down and sighed in relief. His arms were back. At least at first glance they looked like arms, but he had to be sure that they were _his_ arms. He recognised every freckle, but he narrowed his eyes when they scanned over the forearm of his right arm; the place where the Genii had stabbed him during the storm. He had got used to seeing the scars there as a constant reminder of the trauma. It had taken him a very long time not to wince or flinch every time he saw them and memories of the torture which had caused them replayed through his mind.

He ran the fingers of his left hand over the unblemished and smooth skin and whispered, "It's gone."

Ronon asked, "The scar?"

Rodney kept his hand over the place on his arm and looked up at Ronon in fright, "But that means… this machine… it could be used to heal anything!"

Ronon raised his eyebrows, but Rodney ploughed on regardless, "They swap the gene for whatever has been injured or is diseased or whatever, with anything and then put it back as good as new using the original gene. This is amazing!"

"We know." Ronon said.

Rodney deflated a little and looked down as he said, "So that's where the others are? Trying to barter for it?"

Ronon grunted a positive. Rodney rubbed his head with his hand and scratched his nose. He sighed happily as he did it and beamed, "You'll never understand how good that feels after having feathers instead of fingers for the past few days."

Ronon smirked and Rodney decided that he really didn't want to know what the tall Satedan was thinking.

Rodney waved at the machine and said, "I wonder what the Wraith wanted with it. Maybe they hoped it could be used to turn any animal into a human to feed upon. But it wouldn't have been enough, because the mind remains inside what they change and nothing can be copied. An animal consciousness can't be altered into a human, but we still know so little about why the Wraith can only feed on sentient beings." Rodney grimaced as he added, "Their own kind included,"

There was a sudden commotion just outside the room and Tarro burst in and went over to the machine with a cry of, "You can't have it!"

Ronon instantly had his blaster out and covered Rodney where he was still sitting on the bed and rubbing his arms just to make sure they were there and intact.

Tarro ran behind the console and Rodney glanced around the white room and saw the wires trailing from the console. They went up the wall and across the ceiling where they connected to another dome hanging down where the tubes had come from.

Sheppard came in with Teyla and a number of the marines. He held up his P90 with one hand while he used his free hand to try and pacify Tarro. He said firmly, "We don't want it. We just want to study it and find out how it works."

Tarro stood up and he had retrieved a gun from under the console and aimed it at John. Rodney saw Ronon tense up.

Tarro fired a bullet with a desperate shout of, "I do not believe you!"

John dived out of the way just in time and Rodney screwed his eyes tightly closed and clamped his hands over his ears as bullets flew all around him. After they stopped there was a strong smell of burning in the air and Rodney slowly opened his eyes and uncovered his ears in time to see the sparks and flames coming from the console.

He shook his head and opened his mouth in shock as he cried, "No!"

Tarro was still standing by the console and sobbing, "You ruined it!" He dropped the gun and moved to get to the controls, but a large flame licked out and he shrieked in shock.

There a steady whine building up and Rodney said, "It's building to an overload. We need to get out of here, fast!"

John went as near as he could to Tarro and said, "Quickly, come with us."

The growing flames prevented him from grabbing Tarro and the lizard shouted, "No! I have to fix it!"

Teyla said, "We must leave. There is no other way."

John nodded and shouted, "Tarro! Come _on_!"

But he stayed where he was as the others fled not only the room, but the complex. After they were clear, there was a large explosion behind them which consumed the entire building in a ball of flame; obliterating everything left behind.

John spoke with Forlix and his companions. Now that the machine had been destroyed along with their leader, they were stuck forever in their animal forms. Forlix said that they would probably go back to their homeworld to try and beg forgiveness.

John made a note of the address and promised to visit soon and also to drop by if they ever found a new machine. Forlix dismissed the second statement though – all their original genes had now been lost from the machine where they were stored in the explosion. They could never be changed back now.

Rodney sighed and Jennifer went over to him with a deep sadness in her eyes. She rested a hand on his shoulder as she whispered in sadness, "Can you imagine what that machine could have done, not only for us, but for everyone on Earth?"

"Yes." He glanced at Jennifer, and saw that her eyes were glassy. He reached up and squeezed her hand where it rested on him and said, "It can't be the only one the Ancients made. We'll find another one."

She smiled at him bravely as they parted and made their way back to the gate and home. Rodney was whole and fully human again and no longer bore the scar which had always stirred feelings of fear and shame within.

* * *

The End

_A/N – I'm going to find a nice big rock to crawl under and hide now… la la la..._


End file.
